Cross Against The Moon
by Widgetmarsh
Summary: AU Fiction - vampires exist but there is no slayer. Buffy is a powerful witch an important destiny. *ON HIATUS*
1. The beginning

**TITLE**: Cross Against The Moon. 

**AUTHOR**: Kelly Rowe 

**EMAIL**: angels_bath_towel@hotmail.com

**RATING**: PG-13.

**DISCLAIMER**: Buffy, Angel and all other characters (except those I make up) are the absolute property of Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, UPN and Warner Bros (If I owned them, do you think that they would be acting this ridiculous right now). 

**SUMMARY**: AU Fiction - vampires exist but there is no slayer. Buffy is a powerful witch an important destiny.

**SPOILERS**: Minor (if any) for all three shows.

**DISTRIBUTION**: You want you can have it; just tell me where you put it. Any lists just take it.

**PAIRING**: Buffy/Angelus, Piper/Leo, Prue/Andy, Oz/Willow/Tara, Spike/Dru.

**CATEGORY**: AU, Action, Romance and X-over with Charmed.

**NOTES:** Based on a challenge sent to BA_FLUFF list. Challenge will be at end of fic.

* * *

**_Part One_**

_Los Angeles, California - 1997_

Staring out of the French-style patio doors into the balmy Los Angeles night was not exactly what Buffy had planned to do when she had arrived at her mate's penthouse an hour earlier. Unfortunately only a few moments after she had breezed through the entrance, Angelus had received a call and disappeared into his private study to take it. She'd had such plans for the evening and they had all gone to waste. Heaving a sigh, Buffy moved away from the doors and curled up upon Angelus' king-sized bed to await his return. After a while exhaustion began to overtake her and her eyes slowly drifted shut as she fell into a deep and comfortable slumber.

A short time later Buffy awoke as she sensed his approach and sat up, arranging herself seductively on the bed in anticipation of his arrival and events thereafter. However the second she caught sight of him she could do nothing but shudder. Before he had taken the phone call he had been happy, relaxed and naturally sexy as hell and now he was growling and stalking around in full game-face - not that it made him any less sexy to her - but the room vibrated from the anger radiating from his muscular frame.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked him, her eyes filling with concern for him.

His eyes met her's and she watched as he struggled to regain his human guise. "It is nothing," he replied in a calm voice, even though his body-language was screaming an entirely different story.

"Angelus!" she said forcing him magickally to look into her eyes. "Am I, or am I not your chosen mate?"

Angelus sighed an unnecessary sigh, as he moved closer to her, "You know that you are."

Buffy crawled along the bed to meet him, reaching up to gently cup his face with her small hand. "Then tell me what the fuck is going on?"

"It's Master Nest..."

"Old Ugly?" Buffy questioned curiously. "What does he want?"

Angelus pulled himself away from her touch and sighed once more. Suddenly he took a seat on the bed near her, but not close enough to touch. "He's ordered me to appear before him," he told her. When he saw Buffy's blank look he continued, "He is currently in Europe. It means that I have to leave here and... I don't know when I'll be able to return."

Buffy looked at him, her hazel eyes filling to the brim with tears as his words began to sink in. "D-do you have to go?"

"Yes," Angelus told her forcefully. "Although he has no say over my actions here in America - he is still my Grand-sire. When he orders me to appear, I must go."

Buffy didn't say a word, she simply started to get up and leave and in a moment of pure panic, Angelus reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm. "Where in hell do you think you are going?"

"Anywhere that's away from you," Buffy told him childishly.

"Sit the fuck down, Buffy Anne," he ordered, his eyes flashing gold in anger. He waited until she complied with his order before he spoke again, "What is your problem? Why are you acting like some stupid, fucking brat?"

"What does it matter to you?"

Angelus rolled his eyes and wondered why fate had seen fit to send him his destiny in the form of a sixteen year old girl. He sat down next to her once more and took her hand, trying to wait patiently for her to speak about what was on her mind.

"You're leaving me?"

"That's why you are acting like such a bitch?"

Buffy shook her head, as Angelus missed her meaning entirely. "Everyone leaves me. Daddy left, Uncle Victor disappeared, most of my step-grandpa's ran away... and now you're leaving for parts unknown. I'm starting to see a pattern here. Am I really that unlovable?"

Angelus lifted her hair out of the way and nuzzled his mark on her neck. "You know that I wouldn't leave you unless I had too. You and I are eternal. I do promise that I will return to you as soon as I can, did anyone else promise to come back?"

Buffy stayed silent for a moment and then sighed. "When do you leave?"

"In a few hours."

"Then we'd better make the most of the time that we have left," she told him.

* * *

Angelus watched Buffy as she slept peacefully next to him and sighed, it was time for him to leave her. He knew that he would return as soon as it was possible - and whenever the Master chose to let him do so - but he really didn't want to leave her here all alone and unprotected. For over two hundred odd years he had been under the mistaken impression that Darla had been his fate - the one who had transformed him into what he had become -, but a chance meeting with his little witch had changed all that. He had once again become obsessed with her and had stalked her for almost a month - he had never grown bored waiting for his chance, never had he felt anything for an intended victim like he did for this slip of a girl. He had naturally grown sloppy and one night the object of his obsession approached him and wanted to know why he was following her. What he told her surprised him as much as it did her, he simply told her he loved her - something that shouldn't be possible for a demon and especially shouldn't happen to The Scourge of Europe.

He began to spend every second he could spare with Buffy and never even realised that his overly jealous sire was growing ever more suspicious of his behaviour and lack of affection - so much so that she had followed him. Unfortunately for him and Buffy his bitch of a sire had chosen the night that he and Buffy had first consummated their budding relationship to confront him. Of course it also hadn't helped that Darla had watched as he marked Buffy as his during their coupling. The second that he had realised that Darla was there and that she intended to harm Buffy, the choice was clear - the bitch had to die. He felt very little guilt - hell, he didn't even miss her - over the death of his sire, although it had put him out of favor with the family and with Master Nest.

"Peaches, it's time to go," Spike said barging into the room without knocking. He didn't care if he walked in on anything, after all it wouldn't be the first time he'd seen peaches perform.

"Shut up," Angelus replied shaking of his reverie and slipping out of the bed, unashamed of his naked state. "I'll be ready in a few minutes."

Spike ignored his sire and nodded his head towards the bed where Buffy still slept, "How'd Fluffy take the news?"

"As well as I had anticipated," Angelus told him as he dressed.

"That bad, huh?"

Angelus finished dressing and sat down to put on his boots and looked at his grand-childe, "She is only sixteen. How else should she react?"

"You know that you could bring her with you," Spike reminded him. He didn't exactly like Fluffy, but he had to admit that when she was around Peaches was a hell of a lot nicer.

Angelus shook his head, "Her destiny is here and I have no right to interfere."

"What about your destiny?"

Angelus took one last look at his mate and said, "It'll be here waiting for me." He kissed her softly and then he walked away with Spike following behind.

* * *

Buffy knew that she was alone before she even opened her eyes. Although she had known that he was leaving, it hurt that he hadn't woken her to say goodbye. She climbed out of the bed and wrapped the blood red silk sheet tightly around her naked body and began to gather up her scattered clothing. She headed into the ensuite and felt a jolt of pain when she saw that all of Angelus' things were in fact gone. All she really wanted to do was sink down onto the cool tiles and cry over Angelus' departure from her life and her own broken heart. However she resisted the temptation, instead she dropped the sheet onto the floor and put on her clothing.

"Buffy?"

Hearing her name being called, she rushed from the bathroom, hoping against hope that Angelus had returned for her. She was disappointed to find that it was only her older, half-brother Oz. He opened his arms to her and she ran into them and let the tears fall, as he comforted her.

"He called you?"

"He was worried," Oz replied.

Buffy shook her head against Oz's chest, "If he was worried, he wouldn't have left."

Oz replied in his usual way, "He's gotta do what he's gotta do. Regardless of his own feelings for you."

"I know," she whispered tearfully. "But it doesn't stop it hurting."

Oz detangled himself from his sister's embrace and then place a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Let's go home."

Buffy nodded as she took a last look around, "Yeah."

* * *

TBC...


	2. Six Months Later

**_Part 2_**

_Six Months later..._

Buffy leisurely ambled towards home after her last class for the day at Hemery High School, as a rule she usually would have caught a ride with her brother and his band friends, but she had been deferred by her best friend Cordelia's most recent spectacle. However there was an unanticipated benefit to walking home all alone, she could spend infinite amounts of time wallowing in her own maudlin thoughts. Ever since Angelus had left Los Angeles for Europe and The Master's court, she had felt incomplete and so disoriented without him there; even her interest in spells and using her inherited magickal capabilities had wavered.

As a corollary of her self-involvement, Buffy did not notice the furor or that anything was wrong at her home until she was more or less out front of it. That was when she ultimately observed that there was an ambulance parked in the undersized driveway, blocking in Oz's antediluvian blue van.

She discarded her expensive designer book bag - a hand-me-down from Cordelia - on the front lawn and rushed into the house. She had scarcely gotten inside the front passageway when she slammed into into a unyielding, traumatized body of her brother. Pushing past her brother she looked intently into the small living room and she was shaken to find that there were paramedics working on her mother. At least she at long last understood why her brother was in a catatonic state, it was for the most part a disconcerting vision. 

A small amount of minutes passed unhurriedly, making it seem as though she and Oz had been standing there holding hands and gawking, but at long last she saw them load her mother up onto a gurney and begin to wheel her towards the ambulance.

As they moved past the two teenagers one of the ambulance attendants spoke. "We're taking your mother to Saint Agnes hospital now. She's still unconscious and we need to get her examined by a doctor as soon as possible."

"Okay," Buffy replied when it became evident that Oz wasn't going to or couldn't do it himself. Buffy watched the paramedics leave and then she turned towards her older brother. "Oz... you're going to have to tell me what you know about mom."

Oz in due course took in a excruciatingly painful gulp of air, "I c-came home and s-she was l-lying on the f-floor."

Buffy just gazed at Oz and endeavored to stop the tears from inundating her eyes and giving into the inclination to sink to the ground and blubber like a baby. With her mom cataleptic and on her way to the hospital and Oz pretty much out of it, she had to put aside her own feelings for the moment - which was not an easy thing for her to do - and take charge. 

"Oz, we need to get to the hospital."

"The van," he choked out.

"I know... but are you okay to drive?"

Oz shook his head virtually indiscernibly, "You drive."

That is when Buffy become conscious of just how out of it Oz actually was, even her own driving instructor hadn't wanted to get into the car with her. In the end Angelus had taught her to drive and although she had passed the test, she still wasn't all that safe on the road.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Oz merely handed her the keys to his pride and joy and walked out of the front door of the house. A split second later Buffy followed him out, making sure the house was locked up and snatching up her book bag before climbing into the driver's side of the antique automobile and driving off towards the hospital.

* * *

The wait at the hospital seemed to go on and on for an eternity and no one would tell them anything about their mother's condition. Oz was of course still in his semi-catatonic state which forced Buffy to deal with her anguish and mystification all alone. Hours passed ever so slowly and Buffy began to grow even more apprehensive with each passing second and precisely when she thought that she couldn't take the waiting anymore, a doctor walked into the waiting room.

"Are you two here for Joyce Summers?" he asked them.

Oz still sat there blankly, so Buffy was forced to once again answer for the both of them. "Yeah, she's our mother."

"Is one of you over eighteen? We need to do some extra tests and we need someone to give consent," the doctor replied matter-of-factly.

Buffy immediately got nervous, the doctor hadn't introduced himself and the first words out of his mouth had been tests and consent. Whatever was wrong with her mom had to be really serious. 

"Oz turned eighteen last week, but... he's not exactly dealing well with this."

The doctor looked the young man up and down and then sighed loudly. "I need someone who can deal with this now. What about your father?"

"He's somewhere in Europe... I think."

"Is there anyone else?" the doctor pushed. If there wasn't he was going to have to force the boy to sign those forms no matter what the legal implications, his patient needed those tests.

"The only other family we have is in San Francisco. My cousins," Buffy told him nervously.

The doctor nodded, "You can call them from the nurse's station."

Buffy unhurriedly got up and followed the doctor to the nurse's station and moment by moment the feeling of impending doom grew within the pit of her stomach. If the doctor was this anxious then something was deadly wrong.

* * *

Phoebe Halliwell was fatigued, between her college classes, helping Piper to staff the club and the whole Charmed One thing she never seemed to have a moment to unwind. At least until now, she had everything done - school work, the night off and no ugly demons needed to be vanquished - plus she had the whole manor to herself and she was going to simply do nothing. Laying down on the comfortable couch in the living room, she simply listened to the muted sounds of the light rain tapping on the roof and prepared to take a nap. Then the phone rang.

"Damn it. Why me?" she yelled to the empty house.

Sighing, she got up and grabbed the handset of the cordless phone. "What?"

"Pheebs?"

"Buffy? What's wrong?" Phoebe asked immediately concerned. The only time she heard from her aunt or cousins - besides birthdays and Christmas - was during a dire emergency. Not that it was a surprise, Joyce was the black sheep of the family and had never gotten along with Grams or their mother, Patty.

"Mom's in hospital. The doctor needs..." Buffy finally broke down.

Phoebe felt sorry for the kid but before she could say anything to comfort her, a masculine voice filtered down the telephone line.

"This is Doctor Braxton from Saint Agnes' hospital. I need for you to give consent for your aunt to have some tests."

"Sure. What do you need me to do?"

"Verbal consent will now for now, but we still need written. Do you have access to a fax machine?"

"Yeah, but my sister is the only one who can use the thing," Phoebe told him thinking of Prue. 

The doctor sighed, "Look I'll give you my number and the second your sister returns home have her call me and we'll figure out what to do next."

"Okay," Phoebe told him as she wrote down the doctor's instructions. All the time she was wondering what was wrong with her aunt and how serious was it to warrant this extent to get permission for some tests.

* * *

Angelus stared out into the darkness that encased the estate and buildings that The Master had acquired for them when they had arrived at the court, which had now positioned itself provisionally in the English countryside. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but something was going on that was making him feel off his game and that was never a good thing when he was around The Master. 

Everything was going well - or at least as well as he could hope for when dealing with the court - he had as expected been raked across the coals due to his choice for a mate, they did not approve of a Master vampire bedding a human; it didn't matter to them that she was destined to be one of the most powerful witches ever born. Then he'd had to deal with The Master's anger over the death of Darla and the fact that he'd broken the rule and killed his sire, but on top of that he had done to protect his human.

Spike wandered into Angelus' bedroom and came up behind him. "What are you doing now, Peaches? You're supposed to be ready for The Master's fucking ball and not standing around in the nude staring out the window."

"Something's not right."

Spike sighed as he let his hand trace the contours of his grand-sire's virile body. "Ever since you left Fluffy back in LA, you have not been yourself."

"That's it. Something is wrong with Buffy," Angelus said softly.

"Fucking hell, Peaches," Spike said removing his hand from Angelus' body. There was a time where his merest touch had aroused the demon before him, but that was pre-fluffy. Sighing he sat down on the king-sized bed, "Did you ever think that you are imaging this feeling? Fluffy is probably fine and hanging out with vapid bitch friend of hers and since you're missing her like hell, you're projecting your own feelings."

Angelus turned away from the window and walked slowly over to his closet, "You may have a point, my boy."

"Of course I am," Spike answered slightly placated by Angelus' term. "Now let's go before Nest has us staked."

Sighing Angelus preceded to dress in his usual leather and silk ensemble. He tried in vain to put his thoughts and worries about his beloved mate aside as he prepared for another night of The Master's sanctimonious lectures.

* * *

The hours dragged on and on, but Buffy and Oz refused to leave the hospital in case their mother needed them. That basically entailed for them a night of uncomfortable silence and sleeping on the hard plastic seating. The worst thing of course was that they had heard nothing from the doctor since he had gotten his precious permission for the tests. And with Oz still silent, Angelus off chasing after The Master somewhere in Europe and her best friend in the middle of her own teenage angst, Buffy felt completely and utterly alone.

"You are not alone, you know," a British voice came out of nowhere.

Buffy looked up, her pretty young face stained by the endless flow of tears that she had cried. "Giles," she sobbed as she leaned her head onto her whitelighter's shoulder and let her sorrow completely out.

Giles just let her cry, unable to offer any words of comfort to the distraught girl who was like a daughter to him and her brother. The council of elders hadn't told him for certain how this situation with Buffy's mother was going to pan out and Giles didn't want to be the one to offer false hope to the two teenagers that he had watched grow up.

"Miss Summers?" the doctor said entering the waiting room.

"Yeah," Buffy answered noting the doctor's suspicious glance at Giles. "This is Mr. Giles. He's a friend of my mother's."

"Speaking of your mother, she became conscious after the last round of tests, but we sedated her and she's now resting. Since neither of you will be able to see her until at least evening, I suggest you *all* go home."

Buffy and Giles nodded their ascent as the doctor left them once more. Taking a quick look at her brother she noted that Oz hadn't moved yet.

"Giles do you think that you could orb Oz down to the van? I'm not sure I can get him to move."

Giles laid a sympathetic hand upon her shoulder, "Certainly. I will also accompany both of you home."

"Thanks," Buffy managed to choke out as Giles touched Oz's hand and they shimmered out of view. Buffy took a few private moments to compose herself and then headed down to the hospital parking garage where they waited for her.

* * *

As soon as Giles made sure that his youngest charge and her brother were home safely, he headed back to the council chambers. The council was not in session when he arrived, but he did not return to earth and Buffy. He felt that he could not return to the teen without sound knowledge of her mother's fate. Thinking that he would have to wait until the council reconvened, he was surprised by not displeased when an old friend appeared from nowhere.

"Leo?"

"Rupert."

He looked into his old friend's eyes and knew that Buffy was not going to like her mother's fate. "Joyce isn't going to survive this is she?"

"I'm sorry," Leo replied. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the council asked me to do it."

Rupert was inwardly desolate, not only because of Buffy and Oz's sorrow that would come from the death of their mother. It was his own personal sorrow that cause the hole to widen in his heart. Unbeknownst to everyone - her children, her family and the elder council - he and Joyce had fallen in love. It wasn't something that either of them had planned and it was long after Joyce's last marriage to hank Summers had crumpled. After Hank had left his wife and tiny daughter, it was only natural that he and Joyce had grown closer and then one night nature had simply taken its course. 

They had hidden their relationship for the last fifteen years simply because the council did not approve of whitelighter/witch relationships. However even after Leo and one of his charges, Piper - Joyce's very own niece -had come out about their relationship, it didn't change her mind. So now his sorrow and frustration would always and forever be his own private hell.

"Do you want some company when you tell them?" Leo asked sympathetically.

"No... it's something I need to do," Giles replied his voice devoid of all emotion, before he orbed away.

Leo sighed to himself, he saw the signs and realized that his friend was in love with his elder charge, Joyce. Shaking his head he orbed himself back to San Francisco to inform his charges of their aunt's imminent death.

* * *

TBC...


	3. Other Arrangements

**_Part 3_**

It was the zenith of incongruity that when Joyce at long last slipped away from life, it was a rainy afternoon and yet the morning of her funeral, the skies were nothing but blue in color and the sun was shining at it's brightest. Regrettably the funeral participants - Buffy, Oz, their cousins and the family's two resident whitelighter's - were not in the disposition to enjoy the exquisite weather. Instead their moods weighed heavily as they committed their loved one to the ground.

Returning to the Summers' household for the private wake and the reading of Joyce's will was a solemn - to say the least - instance, with no one with the disposition to talk about Joyce or anything else. As for the will, it was going to be a total surprise to everyone - including Giles - Joyce had never told what was in the document or given any hint as to the guardianship arrangements for the children. The group simply sat around the Summers' comfortable living room in a discouraging silence as they waited for the lawyer to arrive and set up.

The lawyer wasted no time upon arrival, only stopping to check that all parties to the will were in fact in attendance. "Ladies and Gentlemen. We are congregated here to hear the last will and testament of Joyce Pamela Halliwell-Osborne-Summers. Before we begin, does anyone have any questions?"

There was no sound made to end the disconcerting silence that swathed the group as they all individually absorbed and dealt with the events of the past six weeks. It was all so agonizing and dreadful - horrifically shocking - to lose a beloved family member the way that they had lost Joyce. No real warning, one minute she was planning to leave the hospital and the next she was dead - a brain aneurysm they told them and there was nothing that could've been done even if they had known.

The lawyer continued on, ignorant to all the pain and suffering around him. He merely named the bequests to an assortment of charities, distant family members and to long-time friends. After what seemed like an infinity the lawyer at long last arrived at the guardianship arrangements for Buffy - Oz being eighteen was free to do his own thing. 

"I leave all my worldly possessions to my children, Daniel Peter Osborne and Elizabeth Patience Summers. However lastly I leave the custody of the afore mentioned children to my nieces, Prudence, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell, until such a time that they reach the age of consent."

Everyone just sat there irresolute of what to do or say as the lawyer began to pack up his belongings. "One last thing," the lawyer said drawing their awareness back to him, as he deposited a bundle onto the oak coffee table. "Mrs. Summers left some letters behind, addressed to each of you. She wished for you to read them once I was gone." 

Giles stood up and walked the lawyer out of the house, "Thank you for coming."

"It's not the most pleasant part of my job; regrettably someone has to do it," the lawyer replied as he walked away.

Giles returned to the living room and found that everyone but Leo was engrossed in a letter. He was about to fade off into the background when Buffy handed him something. The briefest of glances told him that it was from his beloved Joyce and he placed it reverently within the breast pocket of his tweed jacket to read in private later on.

He laid a supportive hand upon Buffy's shoulder as she read her letter. He knew the contents of her letter by heart; after all he had facilitated Joyce in composing it. The letter told Buffy all that she needed to know, to comprehend at this point about her destiny - her *true* destiny. Buffy was going to be so much more than simply a natural born witch and mate to a Master vampire. She was to be the final Charmed One - the witch who would maintain the balance of good and evil for all of perpetuity. To this she had to be immortal and therefore her mating to Angelus had been prophesized for over a millennia. It further went on to explain that her cousins were to take her in and teach her all they know - mentor her - and turn her into the witch she was meant to be.

* * *

Two weeks later, Buffy completed packing up the bedroom that had been her sanctum for the past seventeen years and endeavored to hold back the inundation of tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. She in actuality had not had any idea of how excruciatingly painful it would be to simply pack up some random personal effects, but then again she had not counted on the flow of recollections allied with each item she owned.

On top of all the anguish and ambiguity she felt, there was a very valid apprehension. She barely knew her elder cousins, the two parts of the family had never - if truth be told - gotten along and now all of a sudden she was being forced to leave her life, her brother and her friends to move hours away to live them. Buffy however did have one thing to look forward too, Oz would be joining her at the end of the school year and would be attending a small college in San Francisco to be near her.

Closing the last cardboard box and taping the lid firmly shut, Buffy proceeded downstairs to where she knew that Giles and Oz would be waiting for her. Not seeing them instantaneously when she descended the stairs, she wandered into the living room and received a shock. Three people jumped out from behind the door and yelled, "Surprise!"

"Happy Birthday," Cordelia whispered to her best friend as she handed her a vibrantly gift wrapped package. "I hope you like it."

Not wanting to disappoint her friend by telling her she wasn't in the mood for presents or celebrating her seventeenth birthday, she tore into the dazzlingly wrapped gift and found the expensive blood red leather jacket she had admired during one of their many shopping trips.

"Oh, Cordy. It's perfect."

"I figured that you could wear it on your first day of school and think of me," Cordy told her.

Buffy hugged her, "Thank you and I promise I will."

Cordelia removed herself from the hug, "I gotta get back to class or Principal Nixon will kill me. Promise that you'll write and call and... maybe occasionally visit?"

"I will. Bye Cordy."

Cordelia gave her friend a quick hug and departed with a, "Bye Buffy."

Buffy watched the best friend she had ever had leave before she turned towards Giles and Oz who were standing nearby with sheepish looks on their faces. Spotting the pile of presents, she sat down on the overstuffed couch and opened each gift as they were passed to her, exclaiming delight even though she did not feel it. Overshadowing all the efforts made by her brother and whitelighter was the pain that accompanied the absence of two very important people, her late mother and Angelus.

* * *

The three of them were just concluding cleaning up the remnants of the birthday fest, when the doorbell rang interrupting them. Figuring that it must be the removal company arriving to collect Buffy's things, Giles rushed to the door. A split second later he returned with an eye-catching man dressed in an expensive looking suit and carrying a hefty leather briefcase.

"Ms. Summers?" the man questioned. At Buffy's slight nod, he continued, "I'm Lindsey McDonald, an associate with Wolfram and Hart. I am here on behalf of one of my client's, Mr. Angelus O'Connor."

"Is he okay?" Buffy asked, apprehensive that something might have happened to him.

Placing his briefcase on the oak coffee table, Lindsey took a seat across from where Buffy was sitting. "There's no need to worry, the last time I spoke to my client he was fine. I am here because I am under orders to deliver something to you if he had not returned to the U. S by a certain date."

Buffy just stared at the young man in confusion as he opened his briefcase and pulled out two sealed boxes and handed them to her. As she took them into her hands she was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of Angelus on the boxes. Placing the smaller box beside her on the couch, Buffy undid the wrapping on the larger package. Upon opening she found that it contained a book of romantic poetry, inscribed by Angelus. It was something so vividly erotic that it made her blush with embarrassment. She placed the book aside and before she had a chance to stop him, Giles picked it up.

"Not exactly a typical gift for a teenager," Giles commented looking over the cover. Opening it he got another surprise, "Oh dear."

Buffy sighed as removed the book from Giles' shaking hands. "Angelus isn't exactly a typical guy, Giles. Besides he used to read me passages from it. Apparently every great romance needs a little romantic poetry."

Turning her attention to remaining package, she picked it up and for a moment reveled in the connection to her absent lover. Opening the box she was shocked to find a ruby and diamond choker laying on a bed of black velvet, the jewels so exquisite in color were set into platinum. 

"Wow," Buffy breathed. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Excuse me," Lindsey interrupted. "I'm sorry to break this up, but I need Ms. Summers to sign this release so that I may leave."

"Sure," Buffy replied handing the gift to Giles and quickly signing the form the lawyer handed her.

As Lindsey left the residence, both Oz and Giles admired and examined Angelus' token of esteem. However their admiration was cut short by the arrival of the removal company.

It didn't take them long to take all of Buffy's worldly possessions out to their truck and drive away and as soon as they were gone, Buffy knew it was time to bid her brother goodbye - at least for the now. All too soon Giles informed her that it was time to leave for San Francisco and her new home. Buffy and Oz kept eye-contact as Giles grasped her hand and orbed her away towards her destiny.

* * *

Angelus was not a patient vampire at the best of times and now was not the best of times. He had separated from his mate for almost eight months - suffering from more than simply sexual frustration, he needed to just be with her - and had been waiting for hours for that stupid lawyer of his to call and inform him of Buffy's reaction to the gifts he had left there for her. However the phone just did not ring. Spike, Dru and all of the minions - both his and the Master's - had given him a wide berth all day, knowing instinctively if they approached him in this type of mood they would end up a tiny pile of dust on the floor instantly.

Ultimately the phone did ring and Angelus pounced upon it immediately. Luckily for everyone it was the lawyer, Lindsey McDonald calling with the news. Angelus was on the phone nearly three hours grilling his lawyer on every tiny detail of what Buffy did, said and the expressions she had on her face during his visit. Eventually he allowed the relieved lawyer to hang up and turned around to see Spike waiting for him.

"Why don't you just call Fluffy already?"

"Mind your own business, *William*," Angelus seethed at Spike.

Spike was not the least bit intimidated by his grand-sire's posturing. "It is *my* business. You're my grand-sire... whatever affects you, effects me and Dru."

Angelus just stared at the younger vampire, "You've been watching Oprah again, haven't you?"

Spike moved over to him and placed a hand upon his shoulder in a gesture of caring. "I told you, I don't watch it. It just so happens that Oprah comes on right before Passions."

Angelus shrugged Spike's touch away, "I'll be in my room. I do *not* want to be disturbed for any reason."

Spike watched Angelus walk away once again, silently wondering why he was pushing them away. He and Dru only wanted to comfort him, to be a part of him again; but since they had arrived in England Angelus had been a distant shell of his former self. Eventually Spike wandered back to his and Dru's room - across the vast estate - to work off some frustration and feel at least partly whole once more.

* * *

TBC...


	4. A Strange New Home

**_Part Four_**

The first few days that Buffy spent in her new home in San Francisco, she hid out within the limitations of her new bedroom in an evidently worthless attempt at avoiding her new situation. So she scarcely left the small room and spent infinite hours organizing and reorganizing her possessions into some form familiar to her - her own way of regaining some continuity in her life since it had been turned upside down once again. Eventually she gave up the ridiculous task and gathered up the courage to face her unknown cousins.

Buffy did not want to admit to how panicky she was about her recent circumstances; after all she could count on one hand the amount of time that she had spent in her elder cousins company before her mother had died. She could not help but believe; deep down, that she was an unnecessary nuisance - an encumbrance to her family. If only she had been allowed to remain with her brother back in LA, at least then things would have been semi-normal and there would be none of these malevolent qualms arising. 

Ultimately she ventured downstairs only to find that her cousins were all out somewhere, apparently at their respective jobs and assorted other commitments. Wandering into the kitchen she found that Piper had left her a note - attached to the large white refrigerator - telling her to help herself to lunch and that they were going to sit down and discuss the circumstances they were all in and what they were going to do about it when they had all returned to the manor.

Reflecting upon her next move with regards to her free day, Buffy was apprehensive when the front door bell rang out unexpectedly. Since Piper's carefully written note had told her nothing about any visitors that may be arriving and since she was still new to the house and area, Buffy was a little nervous about answering the door. Pushing the futile emotions aside and answered it with a composed and controlled manor. Upon opening it she found a redheaded teenaged girl standing there.

"Hi," the girl said bubbly. "I'm Willow Rosenberg - from next door. Your - uh - cousin Prue suggested that I stop by and get to know you since you'll be attending the same high school as me."

"Oh - uh - hi."

Willow looked slightly embarrassed, "They never mentioned me, did they?"

"Well, they might have - if I hadn't spent all of my time hiding up in my room," Buffy confessed. Sensing that the redhead was no threat, that in fact she had a gentle aura; Buffy stepped back out of the way. "Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," Willow answered as she entered her neighbor's home for the first time ever with only a slight case of trepidation.

* * *

Drusilla circumspectly crept around the pitch-black passageways of the copious estate that The Master had brought them to, in an endeavor to avoid her daddy and his monstrously abominably violent temper. She knew why her daddy was like this and it was all the mean old Master's fault. If he had not dragged them away from America, mommy and their happy home, then everything would be all right.

Hearing her daddy's intonation echoing down the corridor from nearby, Dru stopped and then all of a sudden doubled back the way that she had come. She had more or less returned to the suite that she and Spike had been sharing, when her head began to swim and stars began to speak to her. As she sank down to the cold stone floor her mind was beleaguered with a barrage of whispered words and images, the most predominant of which was about daddy and the Gem of Amara.

She was still in her position on the floor ten minutes later when Spike stumbled across her. Concerned for his mate's welfare he kneeled down next to her, "Dru? Honey?"

"Spike," Dru answered, her expression never changing from one of dreaminess. "I saw it. Daddy was holding it in his hands and it was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen."

"What are you taking about?" Spike asked wondering what Peaches had been holding that was so breathtaking - although he could envisage.

"My vision - the stars."

Spike pulled her into his arms and kissed her almost imperceptibly on the forehead, "Tell me what you saw."

"The Gem of Amara," she whispered to him elatedly. 

Spike coughed roughly at Dru's news, "Peaches has the gem?"

"He will soon."

"Oh fan-bloody-tastic," Spike muttered sardonically. Every single vampire on the face of the earth - including himself - had been searching for their equivalent of the holy grail for centuries and now for some unknown reason it looked like Peaches was about to go down in history as the next recipient and the first nightwalker to daywalk since it's original owner.

"When daddy gets his gem we can all go home and mommy will be there," Dru rambled on excitedly. "Then daddy will be happy again and everything will be all right once more."

Spike tried hard not to gag at Dru's sentiment and although Peaches may have a better attitude around Fluffy, he didn't need or want the spoiled teenaged bitch around unless he had too. 

Taking his silence as an agreement to her thoughts on the matter, Dru stood up slowly and offered Spike her fragile hand. "Come now, my Spike. It is time for a celebration."

Spike stood himself up, took hold of her offered hand and let her lead him into their bedroom, all without muttering a single word of acceptance or rejection.

* * *

After hurriedly checking on his younger charge and finding Buffy gossiping and giggling away with some redhead, Giles headed to Los Angeles to check on how Oz was coping alone. Arriving at Joyce's home - an exceedingly excruciating experience under the circumstances - he found the place to be somewhat trashed, with piles of dirty clothes and dishes scattered around the once pristine living room. Orbing to the location of the wayward witch, Giles found him lying asleep on his bed as though he had not a care in the world.

"Daniel Peter, wake up," Giles said rocking the mattress that the teenager was laying upon.

"Go away," Oz murmured through his pillow at Giles, he just wasn't ready to be awoken yet.

Giles shook his head and orbed back downstairs and started to clean what had once been an immaculate room. He had almost finished the task when Oz finally surfaced and came downstairs, wearing nothing but a pair of striped cotton boxers.

"Hey!"

The cleaning stopped as Giles stared at the young man who was the closest he had ever come to having a son of his own. "Are you all right? Do you need medical attention?"

"No. Why?"

Giles pointed to remaining mess that surrounded him, "Why else would the house be in such a state?"

Oz simply shrugged, "Buffy and mom did all the cleaning."

"You are going to have to do it from now on," Giles chided softly. "It's your responsibility now."

"Sure," Oz replied casually.

Giles turned his full attention to him, "If you do not do this, then most likely Buffy will forsake her own destiny in order to return here to take care of *you*. You do not want that on your conscience, do you?" 

"No," Oz answered straightforwardly. "I promise I'll shape up."

"Excellent," Giles told him with an intimidating smirk. "Let's begin by finishing up the cleaning."

* * *

When the Charmed Ones at long last returned to the manor from their respective activities, they found their obstinate cousin laughing and gossiping with their redheaded neighbor. It was unquestionably more than they had hoped for when they had prearranged the meeting between the two. Leaving the two teenagers to carry on with whatever they were doing, the three witches walked into the kitchen and sat down at the plain wooden kitchen table that had been there since the home had belonged to their grandmother. They simply sat there eating, drinking and gossiping about their individual love lives until they heard the front door close and Buffy materialized somewhat grudgingly in the doorway.

"Hi," she said visibly nervous, stepping from foot to foot.

"Hey," Phoebe replied smiling. 

"Why don't you come over here and sit down and we'll begin our discussion," Prue suggested.

All of their eyes remained upon Buffy as she took a seat next to Piper and close to the door. With patience they waited until she was settled in the seat and staring back at them - admittedly a lot more uncertainly - before the first of them spoke.

"I think that we should lay down some ground rules - to make all of our lives simpler while you live here," Prue said taking charge of the situation.

Buffy cocked her head to the side staring at her eldest cousin with suspicion, "What sort of rules?" 

Buffy was shocked; she had on no account before had to deal with rules such as curfews and whom she could date. How would she cope under such restrictions? Besides when Angelus returned - if he ever did, since the possibility grew more unlikely each with each day passed - how would she explain the presence of a Master vampire in her life?

Prue cleared her throat as she tried to remember the restrictions that had been placed upon her and her sisters growing up. "Like doing your homework before dinner and such."

Phoebe rolled her eyes at her older sibling, "Prue all kids know that - it's a no-brainer. What we should be discussing is Buffy's magickal training."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed her eyes lighting up with interest at the mention of magick. It had been a hell of a long time since she'd had even the slightest interest in it, maybe it was time to put her secret life back on track.

"Hang on a minute here," Piper interrupted them, ever the practical one. "Before we take this step I think we need to confer with Leo and Giles. After all they would have a better idea of where we need to go with the training and how far - for both ourselves and Buffy's protection."

Prue nodded after some hesitation, "Agreed."

"Fine," Phoebe added.

Sighing Buffy stood up only to be stopped by Prue. "Where do you think you are going? We haven't finished our talk yet."

"What now?" Buffy whined in return. Wasn't the words that they had exchanged enough already? It was after all more words, more conversation than they had exchanged in previous years.

Piper spoke up, "Tomorrow morning, Prue is going to take you down to the local high school and enroll you in classes. Don't pull that face at me, Buffy. It won't be so bad, Willow goes there and she'll show you around. Then Phoebe will take you to shop for school supplies - and only school supplies, Pheebs. And hopefully by tomorrow night we should be able to sit down and discuss where to go with the magic training. Anything you would like to add?"

"Oh freakin' joy."

* * *

TBC...


	5. Changes

**_ Part 5_**

** ~**_The blood red silk made her tanned flesh seem sallow in comparison; encouraged by the scintillating moonlight she had never looked so picturesque to her mate. His lust-filled gaze meandered possessively athwart her nude body as a jubilant smirk broke out across his callously charismatic features, making him even more mesmerizing than should have been by any means possible. Slipping out of his orientally designed black silk kimono, he climbed up upon the king-sized bed; ostensibly stalking her - his prey. Leaning over her yearning body, warm flesh brushed against the chilled flesh of his undead body escalating the ache, the need as he kissed her abruptly upon her plump pink lips. Moving away from her pressing grasp, he ran his ice-cold hands down the length of her arousal flushed skin, parting her toned thighs to permit himself complete admittance to her neither regions. As his mouth leisurely descended towards her golden nest of curls...~_

Buffy awoke with a jerk as she was bumped and pushed aside by her classmates escaping the horrors of the English Lit class. Hastily extracting herself from her scrumptious dream and gathering her many belongings she exited the virtually vacant classroom and entered the congested hallway, heading towards her locker. As she came within reach of it she saw that her friends, Willow and Gunn, were waiting for her there. It still shocked her, but even after three months of living in San Francisco and attending Bay High, she still found it weird not to see Cordelia and the other Cordettes standing there instead.

"Hey Buffy," Willow acknowledged her with good cheer, moving out of the way so that Buffy could obtain access to her locker. 

"Hey," Buffy replied trying disastrously to stifle a yawn and smile at the same time.

Gunn leaned back against the locker bank and chuckled. "Sleep through English again?"

"Like always," Buffy replied knowing that it was really no use in lying to them. She tossed her books and assorted other crap into her messy locker before turning to them. "Mrs. Muller really hates me."

"Ready for lunch?" Willow butted into the tête-à-tête before Gunn could answer back. She did not want to seem like a nerd or anything but she did happen to like Mrs. Muller and the rest of the teachers that Gunn and Buffy consistently ragged on.

Buffy slammed the door of the archaic metal locker shut with a loud bang. "I have never been readier."

The three teenagers headed towards the school's large cafeteria - crammed full with the accustomed suspects - and after buying their respective lunches, the group headed over to the table that Tara had saved for them. Tara was a long time friend of Willow's and Gunn's having grown up with them and Buffy had to admit that she did like her, but she was still a little thrown off balance by the fact that both Willow and Gunn had been involved with Tara - at separate times. A big part of Buffy hoped that the quiet blond did not have her in her sights as her next potential date.

The group ate their lunches and talked about whatever thing that their teenaged brains could come up with. In veracity the most important subject matter that was deliberated was the impending school dance - The Spring Fling - and who was of course going with whom. Surprise, surprise Willow, Gunn and Tara were all going to it together and they did of course invite their new friend to go with them, but Buffy beg to be excused in favour of doing homework.

After lunch the group headed their individual ways and Buffy spent an exceedingly mind-numbing afternoon filled with science, math and an assortment of other pedagogic activities. Since it was Wednesday Buffy dumped her crap in her locker and headed towards the gym for cheerleading practice, still slightly saddened that he would not be able to walk home with her friends. Buffy had no genuine aspiration to be a cheerleader, but Prue had decided it would bring some normalcy into Buffy's bizarre life and had insisted she try-out. Now she was trapped cheering her little lungs out at practice twice per week and at every malodorous game that came along.

When the torment was ultimately over - at least until Friday night's game - Buffy began the lengthy walk back home, wishing that Phoebe had not decided to take that class on superstitions so that there would be someone to pick her up. She had been slogging her way to the manor for a good five minutes when a shiny red sports car pulled up next to her. When the window rolled down the driver's identity was given away to be Jake Huffman, resident football star of Bay High and one of Gunn's other best buddies.

"Hey Buffy," he greeted her with a flirtatious smile. "Do you want a lift home?"

Unenthusiastic about having to haul her cheerleading crap and school books the remainder of the way to the manor, Buffy agreed and climbed into the car next to Jake, giving him straightforward directions to the manor. The ride was bathed in unmitigated silence, not a distressing one but more one of two people who do not know what to say to one another. When they pulled up in front of the manor a few minutes later, Buffy went to climb out was when Jake at long last elected to speak.

"Uh - Buffy?"

She turned to face him, "Yeah?"

"I was just - uh - wondering if - uh - since Gunn said that you weren't going with anyone - uh - maybe we could go to the dance -"

Buffy merely stood there, traumatized into stillness. She and Jake had scarcely exchanged half dozen words since she had arrived at Bay High and consequently his abrupt invitation was an unquestionable bombshell. "I - uh - need to think about it," she answered as candidly as she could. After all she was mated to the exceedingly absent and non-communicative Angelus and that did sort of preclude her from dating anyone else.

Jake nodded in reluctant acceptance, "Okay. I guess that I could - uh - wait for my answer."

Buffy climbed out of the car as hastily as she could and bellowed a speedy goodbye before she dashed inside the manor. Once there she sprinted up to her bedroom (once Grams room) and dumped all of her stuff on to the floor, before she jumped upon her queen-sized bed. Grabbing the phone that was so opportunely placed beside the bed, Buffy dialled an already familiar number.

"Wils," she said as soon as the line was picked up. "You are *so* not going to believe what just happened."

* * *

Graduation day came and went without any ceremonies or traditions for Oz, not that he expected or sought after any. He was emphatically thankful that he had gained enough credits to graduate ahead of the rest of his classmates, band buddies and an assortment of other friends. Now of course he had a choice to make, he could join Buffy and the cousins or hang around LA a little longer - Buffy would understand either way.

Oz was sat there upon the couch pondering his predicament when he heard the doorbell ring. When he opened it he found Cordelia standing there with a bottle of champagne in one hand and racy scrap of black lingerie in the other. Having erroneously turned to his little sister's best friend for succour several times before, he knew that he should send her away this time, but instead he merely opened the door wider and let her inside.

It was for the most part due to the events that followed that caused Oz to make an expeditious and irrevocable decision, to move on and join his family. As he laid there in his bed, wide awake with Cordelia lying next to him delicately snoring, a sensation of foreboding settled over him and he could more or less picture how the rest of his life would be in LA. Married to Cordelia with two-point-three kids and some boring job, never again to play his music or use his Goddess-given powers.

He waited until his guest finally departed, playing the part of a dutiful lover until she did so. However the moment she was out of the door - with the promise of an intimate dinner - Oz was on the phone to the first estate agent he could find and arranging an appointment to view the house. It was time to move forward to claim whatever destiny awaited him, far away from LA and Cordelia.

* * *

_ Three Weeks Later..._

The door to the penthouse swung open with a groan gesticulating its lack of use over the past eight or so months, but the three travellers were well beyond caring. As Spike and Drusilla without more ado headed towards their private rooms, Angelus took a good look around the place. There was of course something wrong with it, something that he could not quite put his finger on.

As he wandered into the copious master bedroom that he had shared - at least part of the time - with Buffy, he saw that there was a substantial layer of dust covering everything. It was at that precise moment that he knew what was wrong. Despite his lack of communication with her, he had expected her to use the penthouse's facilities in order to feel a connection with him. However from the look of the room, not a single living being had been there since he had left for Europe.

Where the hell was she? Angelus could still feel her and he knew for certain that she was still alive and undamaged, but for some unfathomable raison d'être Buffy still felt far away from him. Agitated and ill at ease with this recent turn of events, Angelus left the penthouse and entered the cold night to hunt his frustration away.

A small amount of sadistic kills later, he still did not feel any better about his circumstances. As an ice-cold breeze hit the coolness of his skin he stalked off in the direction of his mate's family home, indomitably to get to the bottom of it. He used the time that it took him to get there to assure himself that the trepidation raging in the pit of his overfull stomach was unsubstantiated and that Buffy would be there, pissed and waiting for his return.

Regrettably all of his convincing was for nothing because the Summers' household was in unreserved darkness with a 'for sale' sign stuck into the dried-out front lawn. There was not a sign of life anywhere, not even a cricket chirped and Angelus anguish grew into an unmitigated antagonism.

His temper ran out of control at his beloved mate's non-appearance, more than ever since it was obvious that she would not be returning to there. Was this some sort of perverted retribution? Where could she have gone? There was only one thing that he knew for certain, that he was going to - needed to - find her and soon, because there was no way he was going to exist without her for much longer.

* * *

TBC....


	6. Gems And Scars

**_Part 6_**

Time flew by ever so swiftly, much to Angelus' exasperation and dissatisfaction. The innumerable amount of demon private detectives - not to mention Spike and some of his minions - that he had tracking down one elusive little witch was astonishing and still none of them had been able to find even the slightest clue leading to her whereabouts. Needing a diversion from his anguish, Angelus headed off to Sunnydale, a small town a few hours outside of Los Angeles of which the entire population was more or less exclusively vampire. One of his childer, Penn, was in charge there and had been begging him to visit - plus there was the added fascination of the rumor.

The gem of Amara, the vampire's translation of the Holy Grail and the one item that would make him beyond doubt immortal, was believed to be concealed somewhere beneath the cursed town. He was confident - well round about convinced - that the gem was going to be his. After all amid the exceedingly erotic dreams of his mate and he intertwined, he had been dreaming of the gem. If he added his dreams to Dru's visions then he was about to become the most prominent vampire of all time.

After the prolific welcome party that Penn had thrown in his honor, Angelus retired to the outsized bedchamber that Penn had, had equipped for him. He flopped down naked onto the black silk dressed king-sized bed and closed his eyes to begin his gratifying dreams of Buffy. His dream became so real that he could feel the wetness of her mouth upon him, but the wetness alone - without the heat - confused him to no end.

Opening his heavy lidded eyes he saw that in fact a blond was in his bed endeavoring to gratify him, sorry to say it was not his mate and was instead one of Penn's vapid little playthings. Pushing the blond viciously away from his nude body, he grabbed his blood red silk kimono and stalked off in the direction of his childe's rooms. He did not even bother to knock on the closed door, choosing instead to simply barge in. Angelus cared little about the scene that greeted him, Penn in the bed with five of his playthings, - he had in his vampiric early days done much more - and simply concentrated on his purpose.

"Penn!"

Penn removed his concentration from his many companions, "Yes, sire?"

"The blond -"

"Was she not to your liking? I can of course arrange another - or you could of course join us," Penn suggested as he resumed full interest in his prior activity.

"Remove her or she will be dust," Angelus threatened as his fragile reign on his temper reached breaking point.

Heaving a sigh Penn eventually complied with his sire's wishes. "Rashta, go collect Harmony. She can join us instead of entertaining our company."

Angelus watched in silence as Penn's first childe - a slinky, sensual brunette - strolled past him with a seductive smile. "I did not come here to fuck your cast offs, Penn. I came for a specific purpose."

"And that would be?"

The lie slipped naturally over his lips, "To visit my favorite childe."

Penn laughter was acerbic in nature, "I had no idea that Dru was in Sunnydale."

"Penn -"

"Don't look so worried sire. The truth is I learned to accept my place in your life a very long time ago."

Angelus elaborately produced his trademark smirk, "I wasn't worried. I was merely visualizing cleaving out your spine for bitch-like whining." Without even a glimpse back at Penn's distressed face, Angelus headed back to his room to sleep and to dream of his mate and bona fide immortality.

* * *

In Buffy's estimation her study gathering was going fantastic. The gang and Jake were all behaving like well-behaved teenagers and for once nothing bizarre was going on with her cousins. She could more or less envision being able to invite people over on a recurrent basis, like any other teenager could.

The five teenagers had almost finished the group project that they had been assigned in history class and were starting to goof off a small amount with relief of the burden. Jake, being affectionate with his new girlfriend, pushed Buffy's hair back from her shoulder and leaned in to lay a quick kiss there when he noticed something that he had not noticed before.

"What's that on your neck?" Jake asked at full volume forgetting that they were not alone.

"What's what?" Buffy replied, turning away from the gossip that Willow was telling her about Melody Martin her arch enemy.

Without a verbal explanation, Jake took a hold of her hand and placed it over the area in question. "That!"

"You - uh - mean the scar?" At Jake's nod and her other friends' sudden fascination, Buffy continued with her explanation, totally unaware of Prue's silent scrutiny. "You see there was this puppy - an angry puppy -"

"And it bit you." Willow finished for her friend.

"Exactly!"

Jake kissed the scar quickly, mistaking Buffy's shiver as one of delight and not one of immense guilt. "Yikes!"

Gunn stood up and hovered over Buffy to get a good look. "I know you said this was a dog bite, but it looks sort of like one of those vampire bites - like out of the movies."

* * *

A couple of hours later after everyone had departed and all Buffy wanted to do was soak in a hot, vanilla scented bubble bath for hours; she instead found herself facing her three cousins. "What did I do now?"

Prue was the one to step forward to speak and Buffy guessed that since Prue was the oldest that this was just another duty she had inherited. "Where did you get that scar?"

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes at them and their more or less predictably parental gang-up move. "Since you were apparently eavesdropping, then you know how it happened."

"No, we know the bullshit account that you told your friends," Phoebe chimed in. "Now we want the truth."

"Was it a vampire?" Piper asked calmly.

Buffy thrashed about on the inside with the disbelief that accompanied their guess, she was not about to come clean to her cousins about Angelus. After all it had taken her mother and Oz long enough to grow accustomed to their untraditional liaison, never mind her cousins who she still barely knew being in on it. Besides it wasn't like he was around anymore anyway, she rationalized.

"Guys, don't you think that if a vampire had been the one to leave this scar - to bite me - that I would not be here talking to you today. Let's face it I would be long dead if that had happened. I know that the puppy-thing sounds exceedingly lame, but it's the truth."

Prue eyed her suspiciously, but eventually seemed to accept her blatant lie as being the truth. "All right. Why don't you clean up the living room and then finish off your homework upstairs."

Appreciative of the unanticipated amnesty, Buffy rushed away and did not observe the looks that her cousins were exchanging behind her back. Looks which spoke louder than mere words ever could, each one resonating with skepticism and the need for added investigation of Buffy's rationalization.

* * *

The cavern was damp, shadowy and reeked of a concoction of rodents, blood and mortality; which of course was emblematic of most of the places veiled underneath the streets of Sunnydale. However Angelus had long gone beyond caring about it, his mind was sharply focused on the task at hand - finding and laying claim to the Gem of Amara. Hours and hours of endless searching had netted him nothing in the way of results, but had earned him a tag-along in the form of Penn's moronic childe, Harmony. She was slowly driving him into the evils of madness with her incessant chatter about nothing and he almost prayed for a ray of sunlight to burst into the chamber and destroy him.

Deciding to check out just one more of the numerous passage ways before heading back to Penn's for the evening's festivities, Angelus found himself in a generously proportioned room that had been ornamentally decorated - somewhat like a throne room. A feeling that began to coil in the pit of his stomach told him that this was the moment that he would find the gem. He commenced to tear the place apart searching for what he had imagined the gem to look like and paying little or no consideration to the aggravating vampiress dancing around the room, playing with the bits and baubles that she had found scattered about the room.

When more or less a half dozen hours later he had still found naught, his temper - which he was renowned for - began to boil. Angelus' patience was long ended and his childe's exasperating bitch would just not shut the hell up. Pulling a wooden chair apart, he picked up one of the legs which had conveniently broken off at a point and came up behind Harmony. Using the advantage of surprise he spun the bimbo around and plunged the make-shift stake into her unbeating heart. Unfortunately for him, Angelus was the one who got the surprise. Harmony - who for all intents and purposes should be dust - was simply standing there staring at him, the stake still protruding from her amply padded chest.

At his shocked expression, Harmony unknowingly asked, "What?"

"This cannot be happening," Angelus muttered to himself. Then suddenly without a word of warning, he pulled the stake out of her chest and plunged it back in and once again the bitch did not turn to dust.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she began to shriek. "I have holes in my shirt. I love this shirt!"

"Shut the fuck up all ready," he told her forcefully. "I cannot believe that I staked you twice and yet you are still talking."

A sudden flash of inspiration hit him and he grabbed hold of her and scrutinized the jewellery that she was wearing. Only one item - a ring - contained a jewel and as you would expect it was nothing like he had imagined. He with brute force pulled the ring from her finger and chuckled evilly as Harmony ultimately turned to dust. The gem was at long last his, he was invulnerable and now he could take his plan to the next level, but first he had one more thing left to do - reclaim his mate.

* * *

TBC... 


End file.
